I’ve seen today that many a supporter of James Webb has come out declaring that after Senate primary opponent Harris Miller lost a Fairfax straw poll last night, Miller should drop out of the race.
This is silliness.
It’s a straw poll. It’s a teeny-tiny sample. It’s for fun. It provides no concept of leaners, commitment level, or the inherent biases of supporters of Webb and Miller who no doubt each tried to pack the place.
The worst that could be said of this is that it’s symptomatic of a lack of overwhelming support for Miller in Fairfax County. That’s not necessarily true, but it may well be; it’s just not the scathing indictment that some might like it to be.
I’m an avowed capitalist; I believe that competition is good. Miller dropping out of the race at this point might free up Webb to campaign against Sen. George Allen, but it would also free up the media to totally ignore him, and free Webb of any need to be held to account for his years as a Republican (which, like it or not, will be necessary to persuade many low-performance Democrats to bother to vote for him).
Not only is Miller’s slim loss in a fun straw poll at a tiny event in Northern Virginia not cause for him to drop out of the race, but it would terrible for Democrats if he did. The Miller campaign’s got some ‘splainin’ to do, yes, but Webb supporters would be wise to settle for some well-deserved smugness rather than shooting for irrational exuberance.
It was a big win, but I think Harris will stay in. The thing that this does for Webb is keep momentum squarely in his corner. I think the major reason a lot of Webb-heads are calling for Miller to drop out is because of Ben’s posting on NLS. They got excited.
There are times that primaries can make candidates stronger. This is one of those times. It’s no secret that I support Harris, but either candidate will benefit from time honing message and getting out to meet people across the Commonwealth.
I generally agree. The only thing that’s given me pause, though, is the preponderance of reporting that there was some grousing about the proportion of new faces at the event.
Regardless of who brought them, the more new faces at Democratic events the better as far as I’m concerned. We need as many donors, volunteers, and avid supporters as we can get to join up with the long-time party faithful if we want to win more elections.
“We’ve been here longest – you’re only welcome if you agree with us” is an unfortunate and utterly unhelpful sentiment when it comes to party building, and one that I’m concerned about if the reports are true.
(Maybe necessary full disclosure/notice: I haven’t made up my mind on Miller or Webb, and I never speak for my husband.)
You like Miller Waldo?
Join every other Democrat who for some WEIRD reson supports a pro-2nd, pro-life, states rights war hero who worked for Reagan.
Did I mention he was fiscally conservative?
I heard Webb was a product of the NRSC…
guess we won’t know untill you elect him wahahaha
Ten African Americans and about 3 Latinos/Latinas atttended. It’s the PlutoCratic Party’s straw poll. What the hell was Ken Longmyer doing there? Several other African Americans could have qualified to be the “Token Negro” attendee.
Congrats Shayna. Saw your House Daddy hubby got a bill through the General Assembly to raise the pay for his fellow House Daddy legislator in Arlington, who stays at home lobbying developers to be new clients for his attorney wife when he isn’t being a County Supervisor.
Waldo –
No one thinks he’ll actually drop out. We’re just going on the record that his race is utterly hopeless at this point. If he can’t convince his friends to vote for him, then he’s not going to convince anyone else.
I haven’t picked a horse in this race yet. I will.
Why are you opposed to stay-at-home fathers? I aspire to be a house husband.
That’s two nasty comments from two pseudonymous posters in a row.
As a matter of fact I also object to any credibility whatsoever being given to a straw poll taken on an ethnic holiday to honor a member of an ethnic group at a place where ethnic food is served and an attendance fee is required. The event was held literally in the middle of nowhere and information about the event was typically posted on committee websites. C’mon folks. Take the next “straw poll” between 6 PM and 9 PM at a half dozen sites inside Fairfax County that are easy to find, like say, the Government Centers.
I was at the Charlottesville Democrats pasta dinner on Saturday night to gather signatures for James Webb. I didn’t really know what to expect, given that Charlottesville Dems tilt pretty far left and Webb’s background as a Reagan Republican. So I was surprised to find that only one single person out of hundreds in attendance told me that he was “probably supporting Miller.”
Bear in mind that I spent the first part of the evening at a table by the entrance next to a table for Al Weed and a table for Bern Ewart. Plenty of people had no problem saying that they were for Bern or Al – I heard it each way all night long. But only one guy said to me that he was for Harris Miller. Everyone else either had no clear allegiance or was whole-heartedly behind James Webb.
I didn’t really hear any Miller-bashing. Nobody has anything against the guy (for my own part I like him). It’s more just a lack of excitement about Miller and a fascination with Webb’s biography.
Harris Miller’s team was in attendance as well, doing an excellent job for their candidate, putting up signs and making well-reasoned points about Miller’s experience working with other tech CEOs (as compared to my ham-fisted campaigning with photocopied fliers and mostly just telling people about how Webb beat the crap out of Ollie North in college. They had full-color glossy everything, but I was wearing a nice suit, which surely won the day). I hope that we can get some of these guy’s on Webb’s campaign after he wins the primary.